Customer Reviews

Hoop Dreams [VHS]

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As much as I love the Academy Awards, a lot of mistakes are made every year when they hand out those little coveted golden statues. No Best Director Oscar to Hitchcock? No Best Director Oscar to Scorcese for "Raging Bull" or "Goodfellas"? Both travesties. And there are a number of Best Picture Oscar Winners which are only remembered today because they won the Best Picture Oscar. Many of the films nominated the same year are still in the public consciousness because they are great, memorable, outstanding films. Some of the biggest mistakes perpetrated on the public by the Academy Awards have been in the Best Documentary category. "The Thin Blue Line", the groundbreaking documentary by Errol Morris, "Roger and Me", the wildly popular film by Michael Moore and "Hoop Dreams" were all passed up. "Hoop Dreams" was not the best documentary of 1994 but "Maya Lin" is?

Anyone who knows me knows I hate sports. I have never liked to play them or watch them. I am a sports atheist. So, my love of "Hoop Dreams" may come as a surprise to many people.

I think I am drawn to the film so much because, much like the more recent "Murderball", "Dreams" isn't about a sport so much as it is about two kids who love to play the sport. Basketball is a big factor in the lives of William Gates and Arthur Agee, two poor kids from the Chicago projects; they live, eat, dream about becoming professional basketball players, but the film covers their lives and how basketball impacts them as they grow up.

Steve James, Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert, the filmmakers, worked on this project for eight years. Eight years! How many films have such a dedicated crew? During that time, they followed the lives of William, Arthur and their respective families from their freshman year of high school through their freshman year of college. Because of the access afforded to the filmmakers and the length of time they followed the two kids, the film presents a remarkably in-depth look at their lives. We follow William and Arthur for five years of their lives watching them grow up before our eyes. Both kids are good and want to make something of their lives, but various influences impact how their dreams will play out.

Arthur's idol is Isiah Thomas, a former student at St. Joseph's, a private, predominately white Catholic high school in the suburbs. A talent scout spots William and Arthur playing and takes them to meet Gene Pingatore, Thomas' famous former coach. Pingatore places Arthur on the Freshman team and decides William is good enough to play Varsity. Through a series of incidents, Arthur is forced to return to his neighborhood high school where he joins the basketball team.

As each of the kids begins to follow a different road, various influences and circumstances change each of their lives. William's brother, Curtis, a former basketball player in college, dropped out and now struggles to find even a minimum wage job. Yet, at every game, he knows what William should do to become a great basketball player. Arthur's mother, Sheila, throws her husband, Bo, out after he gets involved in drugs. Later, Bo returns to the family after drug rehab and a short stay in prison.

The film also presents the positive moments in each person's life, balancing out the negative. Both are great basketball players; William receives a lot of notice from college scouts and gets a lot of write ups in the newspapers and Arthur gets some notice later from Junior College scouts.

As the film covers the big moments in each year of their lives, their circumstances keep changing. It is amazing how dedicated each is to their sport, because they see it as the only way out of the projects. William has a living, breathing image of what could happen to him standing next to him at almost every turn, his bitter brother. When William finally receives an offer from Marquette University, Curtis denigrates it because he turned them down to attend a university in Florida. William's family life is the most stable, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have his share of problems. At one point, he goes to Coach Pingatore for some advice on how to deal with these. The coach's response: "Write them off". Thankfully, Williams seems to realize the stupidity of this statement.

Arthur's family life is a mess. His father is in and out of the picture, both financially and to provide guidance and emotional stability. His mother struggles to raise her family on welfare. Later in the film, Sheila attends an educational program to become a nurse's assistant. She learns that she received the highest grades in her class, providing a rare moment of unadulterated happiness in her life. As Arthur is forced out of Saint Joe's and has to return to the neighborhood high school, his spirit seems to go with him. At one point, he returns to Saint Joe's, for a visit, and seems to wish they would take him back.

As the film comes to a close, the heart wrenching finale almost makes you cry. Both kids have such great talent and large dreams which will probably never be realized.

This is an amazing documentary giving us great insight and depth into the lives of these two young men. It is an abomination that the film was not even nominated for Best Documentary at the 1995 Academy Awards.

The Criterion Collection has released the film on DVD. The disc contains two audio commentaries, one with the filmmakers and another with William and Arthur which was recorded this year. There is also a collection of clips from "Siskel and Ebert" highlighting their efforts to champion the film from initial release, through the Academy Awards debacle and finally to Roger Ebert naming it his "Favorite Film of the 90s". Strangely enough, Ebert was sitting across from director Martin Scorcese (who was filling in for the recently departed Gene Siskel) when he named "Hoop Dreams" the best film of the 90s, a decade in which Scorcese released "Goodfellas".

This is a film that everyone should see. Own it. Rent it. Whatever. Just watch it.

This 1994 award-winning documentary is about William and Arthur, two Chicago African-American teenagers who, in the eighth grade, are recruited to play basketball for a middle-class parochial high school. Both are good at basketball but struggle with their academics. And both dream of playing for the NBA.

The film follows these two boys for a full six years. It also follows their families and we get a glimpse of the challenges of everyday life in the ghetto. These are real people, not actors, and they have to cope with a lot, including Arthur's father drug problem and the economics of living on $268 per month on welfare. Wisely, the camera is never feels intrusive, and I felt I was right there with them, watching them grow, both mentally and physically. There's a lot of struggle, with highs and lows in their personal lives as well as on the basketball courts, and it is always fascinating. The film is almost three hours long but it is so intriguing that I could have watched it for another hour.

This might not be fiction, but the individual stories are filled with drama as it deals with some very sensitive issues of class, race, maturity and hard choices. And the director, Steve James, who wrote the film along with Fredrick Marx, managed to edit it so perfectly, that I was totally unaware of anything else but just being a part of this world for the duration of the film. Highly recommended for everybody. Do see it! It's wonderful!

Hoop Dreams is an amazing film. Not only is it the best documentary of all time but one of the greatest movies of all time.
I was amazed at how director Steve James was able to get this on film so perfectly. The story follows two inner city kids, Arthur Agee and William Gates, and their dream of making it to the NBA and out of the ghetto. The doc was filmed over five years we watch these two boys at fourteen grow to be young men and the ups and downs they go through. Viewers also get a look into the life of how kids are scouted and the harsh realities that go along with it but ultimately it's an uplifting story about overcoming your struggles and preserving.

The doc is so natural that at many points I forgot it was a documentary and I was watching a movie based on a true story. Basketball was a part of my life growing up, playing on courts all around Mass, that and a love for film I was certain I'd like Hoop Dreams. Also reading over the years the high praise it received at times once you finally see a movie it could be a let down because your expectations were so high. What I found was the film exceeded any expectations I had and was so much more then just being about basketball.

You don't watch a movie like Hoop Dreams you experience it. And it gets the best treatment dvds can get by Criterion, you can't go wrong. I give Hoop Dreams the highest possible recommendation.

In my opinion, being a big fan of the genre, Hoop Dreams stands as one of the greatest nonfiction works of film, most probably the most important movie of any genre made in the last 35 years and a serious contender for the somewhat silly "greatest movie of all time" credential, comparing favorably with such cultural fixtures as Citizen Kane. I'm not a sport fan whatsoever, I dont know anything about basketball, and my life has been about as different from the two kids in the film as possible. When I first saw this movie about ten years ago I was bracing myself for some blaxploitation movie. I have since watched it at least a half a dozen times since, and I never fail to be awed by the incredible scope and pathos of this film. On the surface, the movie is about basketball, poverty, aspiration, frailty, loss, hope, marginalization, ghetto life, and youth. When put together over the most engaging 3 hours I have ever had, the film constructs a monumental testament to the human experience. Brilliant in its themes, virtually flawless in its execution, stunningly humane in its treatment of its subjects, Hoop Dreams is big, important, and excellent. Like other true greats, its greatness is often overstated, but it's the type of movie that if you have half a brain and half a heart, you will be seized by the brilliance dripping from every pixel.

This review os for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

Hoop Dreams is the highest grossing documentary of all time (excluding Michael Moore's controversial films) and is by far the best. Siskel and Ebert declared it the best film of 1995 and Ebert called it the best film of the 1990's

It follows two African-american teenagers, Arthur Agee and William Gates, in Chigago's Cabrini Green Housing project who desire to be come professional basketball players.

Despite their low income, they are given a scholarship at a private Roman Catholic high school in the suburbs. The film covers their 4 years of high school and the many games they play. The film also has interviews with members of their families and other events.

I find this to be an excellent film and it shows that many of those who live in the ghetto are honest people too. The film does an excellent job at debunking many racial stereotypes about people who live in public housing as well. I was very touched by this film and feel compelled to help those who are less fortunate and wealthy than myself.

The DVD has two audio commentaries that are great also. One is by the filmmakers and the other is by Agee and Gates.

There is also the music video made to promote the film, scenes from the Siskel and Ebert show relevant to the film, two theatrical trailers, one of which was made especially for African-American audiences, and a booklet with updates on the Agee and Gates families.

This is definately one of the best documentaries ever made.

Hoop Dreams is more than a documentary about two inner-city teens hoping to make it to the NBA, it's a brilliant, true-life tale of the American Dream told from a different context and point of view. I watched this because I saw that Roger Ebert had voted it as the best movie of the 1990's. I was skeptical at first (partly because I don't follow basketball), but when it was over I realized that it really was a great movie. Don't miss it!

This is one documentary that I never tire of viewing. The filmakers actually follow the home lives and basketball careers of two up and coming urban basketball stars from junior high to their first year of college. It's so eye-opening. At such a young age, these young people must learn that before they make even a nickel from basketball, everyone wants a piece of them...coaches, neighbors and even parents. It is such an honor to watch their growth through really tough times. I recommend this documentary to everyone, but especially parents with children who have their eyes set on sports careers only. Why warn your children of the possibilities of not making it when you can just show them? The Academy Awards ignored this great piece of work claiming not to know what category to place it in (how about "Long form documentary???). That was not only a mistake, it was a tragedy. Watch this documentary with your pre-teen and teenaged kids and you'll find that you will all walk away with greater wisdom from it.

My family has ownd the Hoops Dreams VHS for quite sometime and we were thrilled to hear that it would be coming out on DVD. We purchased the Criterion collection and watched the story as attentively as we did the first time. We are heavily involved in youth sports, including AAU basketball. We have even give the VHS to several kids as gifts. This movie has a message that allows kids to learn by example. Those hoop dreams are fun to have but in reality, there are so few who ever make it to the NBA. This documentary shows kids that working hard on the court can guarantee a free private high school education and then a college education. It's not always about getting to the NBA.

I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the older Arthur Agee and William Gates. Why did the producers settle for an audio commentary? Too bad the viewer was not reunited with them and their families in person. I felt cheated. It would have been great to see video of Arthur do his "Slam Ball" thing or maybe see William in some video giving an inspiring message to a congregation. Viewers were invited into their homes over the course of several years and now it feels like they are talking to us behind a closed door. Producers, please bring them back one day.

It's a testament to how powerful this movie is that I didn't care in the slightest about the subject matter, and yet still was very emotionally affected by the trials and errors of these two kids. I've always viewed sports as that thing that I do to have fun, and I stopped playing once people started taking it so seriously that it became too competitive to be fun.

But seeing these two boys drive themselves through troubles with funds, injuries, and scholastics in order to pursue their one dream is very inspiring. It's yet another work that makes your typical normal middle-class life seem banal in light of the accomplishments and struggles of the underdogs.

Basically, it's like watching all of those millions of "underdog sports" movies, except this one has the added tension of being real: these kids can fail at any moment, and sometimes a last-second basket gets missed. In a way it displaces all of an entire genre of sports movies and makes it only necessary to watch this one, one that is real, has real characters, has real dialog, and has real risk.

--PolarisDiB

'Hoop Dreams' is one of the best documentaries ever made, in fact it may be one of the best films ever made.

It follows the stories of two young African American men (William Gates and Arthur Agee) and their families as they attempt to realise their dreams and escape the ghetto through basketball. The documentary follows the boys through four years of High School and on to college.

It is a moving, sometimes heartbreaking film that allows you to accompany the boys on their journey and on the way provides great insight into the wider issues. In many ways Hoop Dreams is a classical documentary - the filmmakers shot hours footage and then edited it down to the three hour film. There is very little editorial, they simply show us the edited highlights of what they recorded and allow the viewers to draw their own conclusions. This approach allows the filmmakers (and us) to examine not just high-school basketball but also the wider racial and social issues.

I am not sure that it is possible to spoil the plot of a documentary but if you want it to be a surprise, read no further....

The story beings with St Joseph's - an up market high school - recruiting both boys on partial scholarships. William is an instant success - even from the brief clips it is obvious he has an amazing talent for basketball - he makes the school first team as a freshman (very uncommon) and looks to have a professional career in front of him. Arthur is a different story. He has talent but he seems to lack the maturity to utilise it and he is kicked out of school at the end of his freshman year for unpaid school fees. William, the potential star, has been found a personal sponsor who pays the rest of his tuition ensuring that he can stay in school, there is a strong implication that if Arthur had been a better player sponsorship would have been found for him as well. The school emerges with no great credit over their treatment of Arthur as over the next few years they ruthlessly pursue his family for the money, withholding his school records to make life very difficult for him at his new school. Sadly things turn sour for William as well, he gets injured and then re-injured playing when he should not. Although his physical injuries heal he is never the same player again.

Even from the start, the extent to which their families are pinning all their hopes on the two boys is terrifying and heartbreaking (we know the odds are stacked against them). They both live in a very poor and dangerous neighbourhood - with the other members of their family working at minimum wage jobs to try to keep the family afloat - basketball is their only way out, their only chance to live the American dream. William has an older brother, Curtis, who had the talent but not the temperament to make it as a basketball player; he now lives vicariously through William, simply adding to the pressure. Arthur's dad has problems with drugs and domestic violence that tear his family apart.

There can be few more tragic scenes ever filmed than the segment showing Arthur shooting hoops at the local playground while his Dad scores drugs in the background. Equally unforgettable is the scene where Arthur, just before he leaves for college, plays basketball with his Dad and the years of repressed anger explode. In many ways the most memorable moment from the whole film is the line uttered by William at the end; it seems to sum up the predicament of these boys. "People say, 'When you make it to the NBA, don't forget about me.' I feel like telling them, 'Well, if I don't make it, make sure you don't forget about me.' "

This is a fabulous film - watch it you can find it - you will not be disappointed. The only disappointment is that the DVD does not provide an update to what happened to the two boys and their families